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Ralph Andrew Hawley

Wisconsin State Journal

Soon after, the moved to Madison, where in 1955 Ralph was hired by John Bowers at the UW Medical School to be Business Manager but was immediately put to work shepherding the Alumni Association as his major focus for 34 yeas.

UW-Madison researcher develops ice cream that doesn’t melt

Wisconsin State Journal

In the UW-Madison basement-level lab, the answer was largely predestined. One scoop was regular ice cream, not unlike what visitors could buy upstairs at the Babcock Dairy store. The other was a concoction of UW-Madison Ph.D. researcher Cameron Wicks, in which an addition of polyphenols — compounds naturally occurring in plants such as blueberries and green tea leaves — helps ice cream keep its shape by counteracting melting ice crystals.

New collaboration with UW-Madison lets 3 Wisconsin school districts grow their own principals

Wisconsin State Journal

A new collaboration between the UW-Madison School of Education and three Wisconsin school districts — Madison, Lake Mills and Middleton-Cross Plains — proposes a solution: Through the District Leadership Preparation Pipeline, a group of Wisconsin teachers will earn their master’s degree from UW-Madison for no cost. In return, they commit to working in their home school districts as a principal or assistant principal for at least two years.

Sneak peek inside the tarp covering the Royal Thai Pavilion at Olbrich Gardens

Wisconsin State Journal

The second phase, which began in March, involves cleaning, painting and applying decorative gold leaf, and repairing and replacing glass beads and tiles that add to the elegance of the pavilion. The project is being funded by UW-Madison, which was gifted the pavilion more than 20 years ago. The restoration will allow the pavilion to continue to shine on the east side of the botanical gardens.

Adaptive Gaming Expo gives gamers with disabilities options, community

The Capital Times

Sloan Gibson, meanwhile, came looking for ideas she could bring back to her job in the information technology division at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “A rising tide raises all boats,” Gibson said. “Just because a game is accessible … or a piece of tech is accessible doesn’t mean it’s just for people who need the accessibility. It just means more people can use it and enjoy it.”

UW-Extension receives $1 million to help site solar and wind projects

The Capital Times

The goal is to make large-scale solar and wind projects work for all involved, said Sherrie Gruder, sustainable design specialist and energy strategist for UW-Extension, who is overseeing the initiative. Gruder said the grant will help local governments and residents “have a voice in making the projects work well for the values and the goals of the communities in our state.”

Wisconsin cows must test negative for bird flu to attend fairs, state says

Wisconsin State Journal

Bird flu has not been found in Wisconsin cows, but voluntary testing has been minimal since late April, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture mandated testing of dairy cattle moving between states and quarantines of herds that test positive, said Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at UW-Madison.

New apartment building proposed for Langdon Street lot

Wisconsin State Journal

It’s at least the fourth proposal for 126 Langdon St. since 2008. The most recent attempt to redevelop the site, Core Spaces’ seven-story Hub II, failed to secure city approval in 2020 and again in 2021 after residents objected to the building’s height and its luxury amenities, which included a rooftop swimming pool and hot tub.

Fewer UW campuses projecting deficits. But one university has exhausted its reserves

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

One university has completely depleted its unrestricted reserves — a first in UW System history — that will require the UW System to step in and loan some of its own reserves. And some of the universities projecting to close their deficits in the coming year still need to make “substantial” cuts to achieve that goal, UW officials told the UW Board of Regents at a Thursday meeting on the UW-Milwaukee campus.

In Wisconsin, college dreams grow dimmer for rural students

Wisconsin State Journal

In the last 18 months, the Universities of Wisconsin has effectively closed five of the system’s branch campuses, most of which predominantly served rural students. The UW system cites declining enrollment, not finances, as the reason, even as the system projects that 13 campuses would be a cumulative $60 million over budget by the end of fiscal 2024.

Technical colleges are filling rural education gap

Wisconsin State Journal

Several high school administrators told the Wisconsin State Journal that they are seeing increased interest in technical colleges from their students, both in dual enrollment classes, which allow students to earn college credit in high school, and overall interest in those colleges for their post-secondary plans.

New study finds Earth warming at record rate, but no evidence of climate change accelerating

The Associated Press

“Choosing to act on climate has become a political talking point but this report should be a reminder to people that in fact it is fundamentally a choice to save human lives,” said University of Wisconsin climate scientist Andrea Dutton, who wasn’t part of the international study team. “To me, that is something worth fighting for.”

How 2 Wisconsin runners have continued a successful pipeline from Australia

Wisconsin State Journal

The University of Wisconsin men’s track and field team won a recruiting battle for Australian distance runner Morgan McDonald in 2014.

It’s not hard to draw the connection a decade later to Jackson Sharp and Adam Spencer wearing Badgers apparel as they head this week to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

‘Cicadapalooza’ party set for Saturday in Lake Geneva

Wisconsin State Journal

The 45-minute, mile-long walking tours are set to be led by UW faculty, starting at 12:30 p.m., and every hour after that up to 4:15 p.m.

Liesch also plans to join Dan Young, a UW-Madison entomologist, in a presentation at 3:30 p.m. at Library Park near the library which will cover cicada basics and feature an up-close look at periodical cicadas.

Proposed ‘alcohol density’ rule could stop new Madison liquor licenses by schools, parks and more

Wisconsin State Journal

Dane County has some of the highest levels of excessive drinking in Wisconsin and has a higher level of traffic deaths involving alcohol than the rest of the state and the country, according to the UW-Madison Population Health Institute. Across the state, alcohol-induced deaths have tripled since 1999, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

Bill Walton left a giant impression with Madison connections

The Capital Times

From afar, Patrick Herb wasn’t sure what to expect from the ESPN2 color analyst for the Wisconsin men’s basketball team’s late December game at the University of California in Berkeley.

He had known Bill Walton to be gregarious and maybe off-topic on the broadcasts. But he was pleasantly surprised with how much the former UCLA star put into his pre-game preparation.

Dairy cows cut the cheese, UW-Madison researchers cut the emissions

The Capital Times

There’s a farm in the little town of Arlington, 20 miles north of Madison, that looks and smells like any other Wisconsin dairy operation. Its 550 cows are milked twice daily, once before dawn and again in the afternoon, like they are at thousands of dairy farms across the state. 

But at this farm — the University of Wisconsin’s Agricultural Research Station — when a cow eats, gets milked and burps, a data point is created. That data collection is helping researchers at UW-Madison adapt Wisconsin’s herd to the challenges of climate change. 

Periodical cicadas won’t be coming to Madison — here’s why

The Capital Times

Still, this is a unique phenomenon that people in the Badger State won’t experience again until 2041. Known on social media as the “Wisconsin Bug Guy” P.J. Liesch is particularly excited about the swarms of cicadas that have already started to pop up and make noise here.

“I turn 40 years old next year, and I have not seen these yet with my own eyes,” said Liesch, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab.

DACA immigrants in the Madison area live with fear and uncertainty

The Capital Times

Dreamers live under a microscope; any mistake could jeopardize their status, said Erin Barbato, director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

“Someone who has DACA is already incredibly accomplished and has had no errors in their ways for their entire life because they basically have been forced to have a perfect life — in academics and employment and with their character — in order to qualify for DACA,” Barbato said.

Act 10 is back in court. Here are the stakes for Wisconsin unions

The Capital Times

“I think you can show what has happened to real wages for teachers in Wisconsin when they’re not allowed to bargain over wages,” said Michael Childers, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who researches organized labor issues. “And what does that do to every other aspect in terms of teacher turnover and the ability to recruit and retain people to come to the profession. We’re 10 years in, there’s enough data.”

Abortion a risky campaign topic for GOP candidates, experts say

The Capital Times

These are the voters whom Republican candidates risk losing if they take a strong stance on abortion bans, according to Mariel Barnes, a political scientist at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“This presents a problem for the Republican Party and Republican candidates,” Barnes told the Cap Times. “Because they’re trying to satisfy this more extreme wing in the party that wants to restrict abortion under almost all circumstances, when it is actually very unpopular with the center of the party, and you need the center of the party to get elected.”